Elon Musk and Anthropic compete to redistribute the wealth generated by AI

“It is common for technology companies to offer progressive compensation to their executives. We, by contrast, are directing these funds toward the public good”: Anthropic announced the creation of the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, an entity dedicated to redistributing part of the profits generated by artificial intelligence.Elon Musk reacted to this announcement by laying out his vision and making a promise to all American children.

Anthropic creates a fund to redistribute the profits generated by AI

Anthropic has announced the launch of the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund. More precisely, it is an LLC (Limited Liability Company), meaning an American legal entity wholly owned by Anthropic. Its purpose is relatively simple: redistributing some of the company’s profits to people in need or to public-interest entities. Anthropic explains: “we could consider substantial donations to traditional nonprofit organizations or direct distributions to specific populations,” while further clarifying that “the impact on the labor market is one example.

Since artificial intelligence risks causing significant job losses in certain sectors, Anthropic would like to provide financial assistance to those affected. This is not universal income, but rather funds allocated in specific circumstances. Anthropic also specifies that this entity will “under no circumstances be used for lobbying or political funding, whether in the United States or abroad.” With this announcement, nearly 20% of Anthropic’s shares will be dedicated to the public good.Subject to shareholder approval, 5% of the shares will be allocated to the new fund, whose stake could increase further depending on the company’s valuation.

Elon Musk promises to give one share of SpaceX to every American child

For Elon Musk, funding NGOs is out of the question, some of which, according to him, defend political or financial interests. In response to Anthropic’s X post announcing the creation of the Anthropic Public Benefit Fund, Elon Musk outlined his vision for the distribution of profits generated by major AI providers and made a promise that is, to say the least, surprising.

The SpaceX CEO thus recommends that major AI providers “give the shares directly to the public,” without going through NGOs or any other entity presenting itself as being of public interest. He then made a high-profile announcement: “Next year, I will give one of my SpaceX shares to every child in America. This will be the first of a long series.”As the Associated Press points out, this promise would represent a donation valued at an estimated $10.66 billion, based on SpaceX’s closing share price and the number of children living in the United States.

Elon Musk and Anthropic therefore espouse a resolutely philanthropic vision of the redistribution of wealth generated by AI, while diverging on one point: the terms of this redistribution, whether direct or indirect, to the population. It now remains to be seen how these ambitious promises could be implemented in practice.

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Source: Anthropic